Chapter 30: The Witching Hour

Chris suddenly sat up in the dark room, his body cold and wet from sweat. A feeling of impending doom hung over him.

He could see the outline of Emmy's body under the blankets next to him. She mumbled something in her sleep, and he put a hand on her exposed shoulder, sharing the stability of her nearness. She sighed and smiled without waking. It didn't change the ominous feeling, but it gave him strength.

Tenderly releasing her shoulder, Chris slipped the sheets back and slid his feet onto the floor, grabbing the pistol on his nightstand as he moved. The room was quiet, and he could see dimly by the small amount of light coming from window. He quickly checked the apartment's living room and bathroom, seeing nothing unusual. He then went to the patio window and pulled the curtains back.

Outside it was still the dead of night. The streetlamps and building lights illuminated the area, all the way out to the darkness of the jungle. He opened the balcony door and stepped out into the hot night air. The usual sound of night insects greeted him. He didn't notice any birds or animals making noise tonight.

The warmth of the air did not nothing to clear the chill that had taken hold of him.

"Chris?" Emmy's voice called timidly from the darkened room.

"I'm here. Out on the balcony."

He heard a rustle as she pushed the blankets off and crept out to meet him.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I had a bad feeling."

Emmy pushed against him, and he wrapped his arm around her.

"Me too," she said. "When I woke up, I was afraid for a moment I was back in my own bed in Canterlot. Alone."

Chris held her in silence for a moment. "You're still here, with me."

"I'm afraid that I'll wake up alone, and this is all a dream," Emmy sighed. "And that you'll be lost to me. That terrifies me more than anything. If this is a dream, I never want to wake up, even if it does feel like a nightmare sometimes."

Chris felt her shiver despite the warm air. He squeezed her gently, reassuringly. "I'm not going anywhere." Then he stiffened. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

His arm still around her, he pulled her closer to the railing overlooking the jungle.

"Something in the trees. Something moving."

They peered down together, looking intently into the night.

"Do you smell that?" Emmy wrinkled her nose. "It's horrible. Like something dead."

"There!" Chris pointed.

Something had just crawled out of the forest, something fleshy and pale that coiled and uncoiled, one way then the other.

"What in the..."

There was a soft slurping sound, and then the tentacle pulled a great translucent orb from behind it out of the forest. It was bigger than a car, fifteen or twenty feet in diameter.

"Oh crap."

Chris grabbed Emmy and pulled her back from the balcony.

"Chris, what is that thing?"

"I don't know, but it shouldn't be here." He pressed his wrist communicator. "Security. Sound a general alert. Ground attack in progress. Sector two, unknown nonhuman enemy."

All over the ProteC installation, the public address system began sounding the alert klaxon, followed by an echoing voice. "INTRUDER. ALERT. SECTOR. TWO. GROUND. ASSAULT."

"Emmy, please grab me my clothes okay? I have to stay here and keep a watch on this thing until someone else gets eyes on it."

Emmy rushed into the room, and was back seconds later, Chris's clothes floating in front of her. "Thanks, honey." he got dressed as he continued to talk to the security command center. "Standby for report. One unit spotted, moving from the jungle behind Residential towards the building. Nonhuman, large slimy orb the size of a tool shed with tentacles. Time is now. No equipment seen."

"Report received. Additional security is already en route."

Chris could now see other people and some Equestrians exiting the building. Someone spotted the creature and started yelling and pointing. He could see people with rifles taking up positions. The intruder appeared to be sitting still at the edge of the tree line. No-one approached any closer.

He stepped back from the railing and finished dressing. Then he hurried back into the room, slamming the patio door behind him. He stepped into his exo suit and activated it, then slapped his hand on the weapon cabinet biometric scanner, and retrieved his rifle and Emmy's from inside it.

"Wish we had the upgrades installed," he mumbled as he chambered a round.

"I'm sorry Chris. We only just finished the design today. The assembly plant hasn't finished running them off yet." She slung her rifle along her back.

He paused for a moment. "I didn't mean anything against you, babe."

"I know." She smiled nervously. "But don't worry. I'm with you."

Chris turned around and smiled at her. "Yeah you are. And no matter what happens, that makes all this worth it to me."

He reached out and touched her cheek.

"You ready?"

She nodded, and together they exited the room and then hurried towards the stairs.

There were a lot of people yelling and running in the hallways, most of them carrying rifles. Chris and Emmy rushed down the floor, dodging around other people to sound of the klaxon and periodic voice instructions. Amber lights flashed from the ceiling like a fire alarm.

"All personnel. This is security control. Ground attack. Ground attack. Security personnel, arm yourselves and secure your zones."

Chris and Emmy slid to a stop at the first stairwell, slammed the door open, and plunged down the stairs.

Several flights later, they hit the ground floor and ran down the hallway to the nearest exit. Chris plowed the door open and rushed out first, coming up behind a staggered line of people on the sidewalk who were taking cover behind trees, vehicles, and any other objects available while aiming their weapons across the street at the creature lurking in the shadows.

He heard some snippets of conversation.

"-hasn't moved at all in some time," someone was saying.

"-looks like a rotten octopus."

"-thing has to be at least twenty feet in diameter!"

"-smells like a dirty gym shoe rammed up a dead deer's asshole!"

Chris pushed forward and saw the orb sitting on the ground about a hundred feet away, unmoving except for an occasional tentacle twitch. It looked like a gigantic beached jellyfish. His headset beeped. "Yeah?"

"This is Control. Security vehicles with mounted weapons should be on-scene in five mike."

Chris stepped forward slightly, and selected local channel, speaking to all nearby personnel through their headsets.

"Alright, hang tight, we have a backup vehicle coming in. Hold your positions until then, find what defense you can and use it."

He looked left and saw Celestia standing with the line a few yards away.

Ducking back behind the security line, he walked quickly towards her, Emmy at his side. When he got close, he saw Marky, Twilight and Rainbow Dash nearby. "You guys got down here fast," he observed.

Celestia pointed up. "We flew."

"Oh. Yeah. Any idea what we are dealing with here?" He gestured at the object across the street.

"I have never seen anything like it in my life," Celestia said, her voice strained. "But I sense great danger."

"Something's happening!" someone yelled.

Chris and the others swung their attention back to the orb's gelatinous surface. It pulsed and gyrated, as if something inside was trying to escape.

"I don't think that's just a ball. I think it's an egg. And it's about to hatch," Fluttershy said in a small, frightened voice.

Muffled howls came from inside the revolting mass, like someone screaming into a pillow.

Hamilton put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll deal with it. Whatever it is."

"Where the hell is that armored truck?" Sanchez growled.

"Probably at the Oblivion Gate or the perimeter," Jeff said as he joined them wearing an exo and carrying a submachine gun. He was breathing heavily from his rush through the building. "It's going to take them some time to get here."

"It's opening!"

There was a wet pop, and the orb split at the top. Something scrabbled at the edge of the tear. People yelled and pointed lights at it. Several small flying drones showed up as well, and directed spotlights on the area while they hovered overhead.

The head of a raccoon popped into view as slit widened. Transparent slime oozed out of the hole and matted the animal's fur as it struggled to push out of the gelatinous mass.

"What the hell?" Marky said.

As they watched, the raccoon's body emerged, yelping and scrabbling to escape. Instead of running away, it began to lift into the air. It appeared that a large snake was holding onto its hindquarters.

A bird appeared in the hole also, flapping feebly. It appeared to be entangled with another bird.

It wasn't until the deer emerged, its body melted and fused with the birds and at least thirty rats that the realization struck, and the gasps of horror and revulsion began.

"They're... stuck... together." Fluttershy's face was beyond horror, her eyes filled with tears. Hamilton put a hand over her eyes and tried to push her back, but she swept his hand away with her hoof.

"No, I can't leave my friends. I won't leave them."

There was a final wet slap and the orb fell to the ground, split in two, giving birth to a wet, grotesque mass of struggling animals. Their agonized cries could be plainly heard now, and the echoes of torment filled the night.

Sanchez mumbled a prayer and crossed himself.

Disgusted and frightened exclamations rose from the people and Equestrians present.

Then the beasts on the ground moved in unison, and a thing rose up, created from the fused bodies of thousands of still-living forest animals.

It towered above the defenders, taller than a second story window. It was bipedal, if the two trunks of squirming animals could be called "legs". Everything on it was moving. Tentacles of snakes melted together into long lashes whipped around. Two arms constructed of animals packed together like roadkill in a cleanup truck swung menacingly.

The crazed eyes of uncountable lost creatures glinted in the night, scrutinizing the humans and Equestrians. The din of the terrified, hurting animals was incredible.

Then all the voices of every animal came together impossibly and spoke, chanting in unison.

"WITH A THOOOUSAND EYES I SEE YOU."

"WITH A THOOOUSAND EARS I HEAR YOU."

At the end of each halting, ragged sentence, the animals howled and squealed until their voices were brought under control to speak again.

"FOR A THOOOUSAND YEARS HAVE I HUNGERED."

There was a screaming pause.

Celestia stepped forward, and Jeff moved beside her, his sub machine gun held at low ready.

"VILE MONSTER, WHAT HAS BROUGHT YOU HERE?" Celestia thundered in Royal Canterlot Voice.

Jeff glanced at her momentarily, surprise and admiration evident on his face.

The creature responded.

"I HUUNGER. I HUUUUUUNGER. YOUR BODIES FEED. I COOOONSUME."

One of the tentacles swung down like a whip. It was much longer than it had initially appeared, and the thick snakes flexed powerfully, swinging the body of a large deer forward like a mace on a chain.
Humans dodged and rolled out of the way as the body of the squealing deer smashed into a car, crushing the roof in a spray of blood. The sound of the animal's bones shattering from the impact was like sticks popping in a fireplace. It bleated and flopped piteously as it was hefted back into the air for another swing.

"I CONSUUUUUUME YOU!"

With a roar, the massive composite creature lurched forward.

"Consume this!" Jeff bellowed. He raised his submachine gun and stitched a line of bullets across the creature's body. The animals composing it shrieked even louder as the bullets punctured their bodies, blood spewing thickly from their wounds.

The air was suddenly full of tracer rounds blazing in the night as the crowd let loose on the towering monstrosity.

"Watch the tentacles!" Chris yelled, then grabbed Emmy and dodged to the side as a swinging boar slammed into the ground with a fleshy whack onto the exact spot where she had been standing a moment before.

He fired into the arm as it drew back, eliciting squeals and blood spray. "How the hell can we kill this thing?"

Another tentacle rocketed towards Celestia and Jeff.

Before it could crush them, her horn glowed and a domed magical shield appeared around them. The blow crashed into it, and she visibly strained against the impact.

Hamilton and Sanchez stood on either side of Fluttershy, rifles blazing. She huddled low, mumbling to herself. "No I can't... I can't see this. I can't..."

Twilight fired a searing beam of purple energy towards the creature's torso. It blocked with the twisted bodies of half-dead bleeding animals, and retaliated with a lash blow, which Twilight blocked using her own magic shield. Several yards away, she could see a pink dome flash into existence as Trixie protected her team.

Above, Rainbow Dash dodged and rolled in the air, holding a rifle in her hooves and raining down bullets. She dropped a mag, careful not to hit anyone below in the head, and reloaded, swiftly sending more bullets downrange.

Pinkie Pie danced around the street mocking and teasing. She shadowstepped rapidly, vanishing and reappeared out of thin air at random, blowing party whistles and popping balloons. Whenever she got close, her shotgun popped as well, adding bite to her taunts. Her antics caused major distraction as the creature fruitlessly pounded the ground in an obviously enraged effort to murder her.

"You be careful now Pinkie!" Applejack called out to her as she fired her rifle over a planter. "Hey y'all, watch your fire! Don't shoot Pinkie!"

"Watch Fluttershy!" Sanchez yelled at Hamilton. "I'm moving left!" He sidestepped towards Applejack's position, firing a steady stream of bullets over the hood of a parked car as he passed behind it.
The monster changed tactics. It kept swinging the tentacles to keep them busy, then it picked up a nearby car in one of its shorter arms and cocked it back.

"Oh shit." Hamilton tried to grab Fluttershy but his hand slipped off her smooth back. As the car hurtled through the air towards them in slow motion, he realized they could either both die, or he could jump out of the way.

Or...

He pushed hard with his shoulder, his exo-amplified movement shoving her out of danger.

An instant before the car crushed him, he was knocked powerfully to the side as Marky charged into him at a gallop. They both flew to the ground, the airborne automobile barely missing them and crashing into the concrete, sliding to a screeching halt in a shower of sparks.

Marky stood over Hamilton and Fluttershy protectively, two pistols blazing as he grimaced and snarled towards their enemy.

"Th... Thanks. I owe you one," Hamilton wheezed as he picked himself up.

"Don't worry about it. Worry about killing this thing before it kills us!"

Marky lowered the smoking pistols and pulled two grenades from his gear, dropping the pins as he hurled them expertly towards the hideous effigy.

They landed on the ground next to it, and it quickly placed a couple of larger animals over the explosives. The grenades detonated underneath, shredding the two animals but doing little to no damage otherwise.

The monster made a bizarre hitching sound as the pink blood mist rose up, and Marky realized it was laughter, freakishly at odds with the struggling of the animals composing it.

"YOUR EFFFFOOOORRTS ARE FEEEEEBLE."

There was a human scream of pain as one of the defenders dodged too slowly and was partially pinned under the ragged body of an unrecognizable mammal.

Fluttershy suddenly flew into action, rushing through the air towards the fallen man. Rarity went with her, galloping with her slung rifle at her side. They both began trying to drag the injured man to safety. His left leg was crushed and severed almost completely at the knee, blood gushing onto the concrete from the terrible wound. The meaty, bleating tentacle drew back for a killing strike, but Twilight had responded as well, and she projected a force field that deflected the intended blow. Then she helped pull them to the edge of the battlefield, returning to the fight as soon as they were safe. Stained with blood, Fluttershy and Rarity knelt down, quickly putting a tourniquet on the damaged leg, trying to keep the dazed man from bleeding to death.

"Chris! I think I see something," Emmy said. "The creature isn't just MADE from the animals, it's using their flesh and blood and organs to survive. It's slowing down in the areas where it's taking the most damage. The animals are dead there, and they are unresponsive."

Chris paused, dropping the magazine from his rifle and reloading. He spoke to Emmy while keeping his eyes on the enemy. "Maybe if we concentrate our fire in one area, we can do enough damage to slow it down. How about a leg? If we hobble it, that should make it more vulnerable."

Chris called a target out on his ARHUD, marking the upper area of one of the legs. The marked zone appeared in the ARHUD of everyone present, and they responded by doing their best to shoot it in the designated spot.

Their sudden organization seemed to anger the monster. It quickly grabbed a car and put it over that area, deflecting the majority of bullets.

It then started grabbing other cars and objects, using them as shields.

"Aw crap," Chris groaned.

The unicorn horn beams were not piercing the vehicles particularly well. Neither were the bullets.

The battle took a turn for the worse as the monster ducked down behind its makeshift shield, laughing dementedly.

Chris pulled up a remaining ammo average in his ARHUD, and was not pleased to discover that reserves were falling low.

He looked around, and several people had expended all ammo on their rifles and were now shooting pistols. The storm of bullets was dropping off, and the creature stood tall before them, only minorly injured.

It dropped the cars with a demonic chuckle.

"YOU HAAAAVE AMUUUUSED ME. NOW DIIIIIE."

It stepped forward confidently, gloating already in the crushing defeat the humans and their stupid horse buddies were about to suffer.

Emmy pushed up against Chris's leg. He glanced down, seeing the fear in her eyes. He let his empty rifle fall to his side, and drew his sidearm, pointing it at the approaching behemoth with one hand while he put his other arm around Emmy protectively. He was about to give the order to fall back when there came a screech of tires and the blast of air horns.

Everyone including the monster paused to watch three huge Armored Personnel Carriers roar into the street. Turrets on the APC roofs swiveled to aim at the beast, and powerful spotlights illuminated it like the sun.

It quickly snatched up the cars again, putting them between itself and the threatening new arrivals.

Before the carriers even stopped moving, the three top-mounted GAU-19 Gatling turrets let loose with a thunderous storm of .50 caliber armor-piercing Browning machine gun rounds. Brass casings poured like a metal waterfall down the side of the trucks as they rocked on their suspensions from the recoil.

The vehicles it used as a shield exploded in flames, and the monster screamed incoherently as pieces of its blasphemous body scattered and fell.

"Feeling amused now you fucker?" Marky bellowed, shaking his hoof. "Eat it!"

The deafening bombardment continued, round after round streaking through the air, the night air shattered by the roar of a thousand angry supersonic hornets racing to shred flesh, until nothing remained of the towering monster but a pile of bleeding, shattered carcasses.

The lead inferno ceased, turrets spinning down with a whine, spotlights scanning the area carefully for any further sign of a threat.

As the smoke cleared, only the sounds of people shouting to each other and the occasional whimper from a mortally wounded animal could be heard over the sound of the idling APC engines.

Ambulances pulled up behind the APCs, ready to assist any injured personnel.

Chris scanned around, making sure his friends were okay and nobody was seriously wounded. He could see Fluttershy and Rarity helping the medics load the injured man onto a stretcher.

Taking in the mess, Chris quickly walked over to Jeff and Celestia. "Could this be a bio-hazard situation?"

Jeff frowned. "It certainly could." He glanced around at the blood splatters all over the road. "If so, I think we're all screwed, so let's just hope it's not. This facility was not designed with much above basic bio-containment in mind, certainly not mass casualties like this would bring. We need to run a pathogenic analysis, and quickly."

Chris turned to Celestia. "What we are about to do next isn't going to be pretty. Please take Fluttershy and the others inside. This is something that we humans need to do. Alone."

Celestia didn't have to ask what was about to happen. She nodded and herded the other ponies inside.

Emmy looked up at Chris. "I want to stay with you."

He put a hand on her neck. "Go inside with Celestia. I know you're tough, but I'd rather you didn't watch what happens here next. We'll be done soon."

She turned reluctantly and followed Celestia and the other Equestrians to the building.

Marky stayed, the expression on his face immediately deflecting any argument to the contrary.

After the others had gone inside, Chris, Marky, and a large group of humans donned gas masks and walked into the reeking, blood and urine-drenched field at the edge of the roadway. On the ground, still-moving animals mewled in their own feces and feebly tried to escape the dead construct they were now inextricably a part of. Their unpleasant job was to put a bullet in the head of every single doomed animal.

"You... Haven't... Won." whispered a deer, gazing malignantly out of its one remaining eye.

Marky's grim expression did not change as he shot it in the face.